Volume 15, Number 6
Oct 1991

Permanent Papers on the Market

by Ellen McCrady

The papers listed in Table 1 are those named by the 23 paper companies
that returned the Abbey Publications questionnaire on permanent
papers by August 15, 1991. The list is probably not comprehensive.
Twelve of the companies that did not reply are Cross Pointe,
Eastern, E.B. Eddy, Finch Pruyn, Parsons, Patriot, Potsdam, Riverside
Simpson Pasadena, Warren, Byron Weston, and George Whiting. These
are all 100% alkaline companies, or close to it.

We have made an effort to clarify any ambiguous questionnaire
responses by making follow-up calls to the companies, with limited
success. Some mills specified just which ASTM standards each
of their listed papers met (e.g., D-3290), while others simply
wrote "ASTM." We are responsible for some imprecision
too, because we did not insist that respondents list only papers
that corresponded exactly to the type covered by a standard.
A strict interpretation would have meant omission of many papers
that are indeed long-lived, because many fine papers produced
today are not covered by any kind of permanence standard.

For more information on just what kind of printing ("ptg")
or office ("ofc") papers these are, see Walden's Paper
Catalog or one of the directories published by Grade Finders,
Inc. Most printers and distributors have copies of these directories;
ask them to let you use their copy.

Papers with recycled content have an R following their name.
Content varies from 5% to 100% and may be preconsumer or postconsumer
waste or both. Now that all 50 states have laws requiring the
use of recycled paper for certain purposes, a purchaser may have
to specify recycled content as well as permanence.

Summaries of the specifications for the ANSI and ASTM standards
are given in Tables 2 and 3. The row for tear resistance specs
gives three different measures for resistance to tearing: g (gram,
really a measure of weight that often does double duty as a measure
of force), gf (gram force, which is the same as the grain under
standard gravity conditions on earth) and N (newton, a unit of
force which has come into wider use recently; one mN or millinewton=9.81 gf). In future standards, we can expect to see this confusion
cleared up. We will also see more frequent use of measures in
the form of indexes, which will take into account the thickness
of the paper and thus allow the use of one measure for all papers
covered.

Notes

1. Champion International. The four deep shade Carnival
Cover grades will remain acid sized until late in 1991.

2. Consolidated & Potlatch both make alkaline coated
papers, for which there is no permanence standard at present.

3. Crane. A note on the 1990 survey says they have the
capability to manufacture all bonds, ledgers, indexes and Save-A-Source
recycled paper to meet the ASTM, ANSI, or other specifications
as requested by customers.

6. Papyrus Newton Falls. "Recycled fiber used on
a special making basis."

7. Union Camp replied (in 1990), "At the present time
all of our papers are manufactured to a level less than 7.0. Several
trials have been conducted on alkaline sized paper and Union Camp's
Fine Paper Division is presently making plans for a conversion
to alkaline sizing in 1991."